Cousins
by Lauren Wagner
Summary: Rated for implied child abuse and strong language! Set two weeks after Mum Tim learns a little bit more about Gareth's childhood and why his cousin Ferris is blind.
1. Chapter 1

Finch narrowed his eyes angrily, grinding his teeth together.

At this point at night, he was highly intoxicated and the beer in his belly was starting to talk to him and offer suggestions on what he should do.

The focus of his anger was currently laughing as he danced with his lover, tilting his head back as his neck was given a light nibbling.

"Tim…" Gareth moaned, shivering at the sensation that ran throughout his body.

Tim laughed as he stopped, his arms still wrapped around Gareth's middle.

"What's the matter?" he teased, rubbing his nose against Gareth's gently.

"I…I've pitched my tent." He mumbled, and Tim frowned slightly before he then looked down and laughed softly at the barely hidden erection Gareth was now sporting.

"The side of your neck is such an odd spot to get hot from!" Tim said, his fingertips ghosting over the faint bruises that still lingered from his father's attack two weeks ago.

"Yeah? Well at least I know how to be a better dominant than you, and I'm the bloody submissive!" Gareth shot back with a small smile.

"A better dominant, eh? Well then, go and get me another pint of ale!" Tim said, giving Gareth a loving swat to his rump.

Giggling softly, Gareth headed over to the bar and was a few stools down from Chris Finch as he leaned on the bar and gave the bartender his order.

Curling his lip in disdain, Finch downed the rest of his lager and this gave him the push he needed to get up and stumble over to Gareth.

"Oy, Gareth!"

Gareth looked up and he blushed slightly as he was met by an angry Finch, and he quickly looked away again.

This infuriated the drunken man further and he roughly shoved at Gareth, almost knocking him from his stool.

"Oy, fairy boy! I'm talking to you!"

"Leave me alone…" Gareth mumbled. "You're drunk…"

"Think you're better than me don't you?" Finch demanded, jabbing Gareth harshly in the arm. "Think you're a right smart ass; getting me fired like that, eh?"

"You got yourself fired." Gareth shot back softly, frowning at him. "You had no right harassing me the way that you did!"

The baby bottle business had been overlooked by David easily enough, but when Chris Finch's jokes and little props began to get more vulgar and personal against Gareth; mainly because of his sexuality, David had finally been forced to fire him in order to avoid a lawsuit threatened by Tim.

Finch snorted, and he slowly pulled himself up to his full height, looking down at Gareth with nasty eyes.

"You fucking bummers! You sit there and bitch about being treated like normal people, but then you cry when someone makes a simple joke!"

"You posted pictures all over the office of me sucking a cock!" Gareth snapped at him.

"You do suck cock!"

Rolling his eyes, Gareth shook his head and picked up the two mugs, planning on getting away before Finch could start getting worse.

Finch grabbed him by his arm and held him in place, his fingers digging into his arm painfully.

"Oy! Let go of me!" Gareth said, trying to pull away.

"I'm not done talking to you! You don't walk away when someone's talking to you!"

By this point, their argument was getting louder and Tim was soon coming over, a frown on his face.

"Fuck off!" Gareth snarled and without warning he threw both mugs of ale into Finch's face, drenching the man and causing him to let go in surprise.

"What's going on here?" Tim demanded, shooting Finch a glare.

"Nothing. Let's just go home, yeah?" Gareth asked. "I don't want to stay here anymore…"

Nodding, Tim wrapped an arm around his shoulders and he shot Finch one last glare before heading outside with Gareth.

Finch was too stunned to follow after them, and he just stared down at his soaked shirt and pants.

"Are you really going to stand there and let a homo insult you like that, mate?" someone shouted to him, and this spurred him into action.

With a snarl that resembled an animal's; Finch chased after them and he slammed bodily into Tim, smashing his face against his car window.

"Tim!" Gareth cried out, turning to him to try and help him get up as Tim fell to the ground in a daze.

"Fucking little fairies! Think you're better than me?!" he raged, and he rose up a fist to strike Gareth next. "I'll show you that you're not!"

A strong hand caught him by the wrist before he could bring it forward, and Finch frowned and looked over his shoulder.

"Oy, cousin! Is this little fucker bothering you then?"

Gareth smiled and let out a sigh of relief as he helped Tim to his feet, helping him pinch his nose closed to stop the bleeding.

It was Ferris, dressed in his usual red shirt and blue jacket, a freshly lit cigarette dangling from the corner of his lips as he held onto Finch's wrist tightly.

Beside him was his friend Joey, a jolly looking fat man with a seemingly permanent five o'clock shadow on his double chins.

"Well?"

"He's the one who's been harassing me at my job. He's mad because he got fired for it." Gareth explained.

Ferris nodded at this and he smiled as he calmly took his cigarette out for a moment, blowing out the smoke before putting it back into his mouth.

"Joey? Deal with this piece of shit will ya?" he asked, wearing a small smile on his lips.

"With pleasure!" Joey nodded and as Finch protested and weakly tried to fight back, Joey dragged him behind the building and proceeded to pound the ever living shite out of him.

"What are you doing here?" Tim asked, looking down at his hand for a moment to make sure that his nose had stopped bleeding.

Ferris shrugged, slipping his hands into his pockets, his blind eyes staring off into the distance as usual.

"Joey and I were hoping to pick up a few birds by using the old pity the blind man card." He said. "But then he said that he saw you and me cousin here being harassed and I decided to jump in."

"Thanks for the help, Ferris." Gareth said softly, his cheeks turning a faint pink color.

"Are you blushing again?" Ferris asked suddenly, and Tim couldn't help but stare at him in surprise.

"How did you..?"

"He always blushes when I help him out of a jam." He explained with a shrug, the smoke from the cigarette coming out of his nostrils as if he were a dragon.

"Well, that fucker won't be bothering you two anymore!" Joey announced, wiping his hands on his pants as he walked over. "It's hard to throw a punch when your hands are broken and all!"

Gareth flinched slightly at this method.

"Did you have to break them both?"

"How else was he going to learn?" Joey asked and Gareth was forced to nod in agreement.

"I suppose so…"

"So you two will be all right heading home then, cousin?" Ferris asked, cocking an eyebrow slightly.

"Tim?"

"It's not broken or anything." Tim said. "And the bleeding has stopped."

"Good man." Ferris nodded and he smiled as he reached out and gave Gareth a light hug.

"See you around then, cousin?"

"Sure." Gareth nodded. "Maybe we could go to lunch tomorrow?" he offered, looking over at Tim.

Tim shrugged, nodding in agreement.

"All right then. You'll do the driving though. Joey here can't drive for shite!"

"I drive well enough!" Joey countered with an indignant huff. "At least I can bloody see the road!"

Rolling dead eyes, Ferris shook his head as Gareth flinched at the comment.

"Even blind, I can tell that you suck at driving." He countered and soon enough the two were playfully arguing back and forth about Joey's driving skill as they headed for the entrance to Chasers.

"That was lucky." Tim noted, opening the car door and getting inside.

Gareth watched after his cousin for a moment before he got into the car, and he sighed as he nodded.

"Yeah, my cousin is good to me." He said. "Sometimes…too good."

Tim looked over at Gareth and arched an eyebrow in confusion at this last statement, but when the man did not explain further, he shrugged and merely started the car, heading back to their home.


	2. Chapter 2

Tim was the first one to wake up the next morning.

With a soft groan, he opened his eyes and found himself staring up at the ceiling, Gareth's thin arm draped over his chest.

Tim looked over at him and he was forced to bite his tongue to keep himself from laughing.

Gareth was lying on his side facing him, his right arm over his chest while his left arm was stretched up and under his head.

They had forgotten to take off the handcuffs that kept Gareth's left wrist chained to the bars on the headboard of the bed.

"You're going to have a bad case of pins and needles when you wake up, love." He murmured, leaning forward to kiss Gareth's temple as he reached out and unchained his wrist.

Gareth moaned softly, pulling his arm away and he mumbled something before rolling over, giving Tim a good look at his thin back.

Rolling his eyes, Tim sat up and looked around the room, rubbing the back of his head.

A lot had changed in Gareth's home since Tim moved in with him.

The first thing that had been done was to get him new furniture to replace the old couch and the mattress on the floor. Now they had a bed with a frame; the bars on the headboard used mainly to tie Gareth up during one of their games.

After the interior of the home was brightened up a bit with a new couch and an actual color television set, Gareth's wardrobe was expanded to hold more clothes than just three suits, a single t-shirt and a pair of jeans, which meant that dressers were also needed to hold them all.

Tim looked down at Gareth and he ruffled his hair.

Gareth's hair had been the cause of a long and arduous argument between the two of them. Tim had insisted that he try to grow it out, but Gareth had refused, saying that he thought it made him look nice and respectable.

Tim had countered by saying that it made him look like a twat and Gareth had coldly pointed out that at least his hair didn't look like he just woke up and went to work without brushing it first.

The argument raged on for a few more days, which resulted in cold remarks and Tim being forced to sleep on their new couch by himself before they finally came to an agreement that Gareth could keep his pudding bowl haircut, but he would have to grow it out longer than it was right now.

Tim smiled and he gently ran his nails through Gareth's scalp, making the lanky man shiver and moan.

Tim looked over at the new digital clock that rested on a nightstand beside him and he softly swore when he saw what time it was.

"Gareth, wake up!" he said, shaking his arm.

Mumbling incoherently, Gareth buried himself deeper into the blanket, covering his head with his pillow.

"G'way…"

"Gareth, you have to be at work in an hour!"

His eyes snapped open and Gareth sat up, igniting the pins and needles in his arm.

"Fuck!"

Tim sighed and watched as Gareth promptly fell out of bed with a loud thud, swearing again as he found his long legs tangled up in the sheets.

"I'll lay out your clothes while you take a quick shower." He offered.

Gareth mumbled something again as he escaped from the sheets and he proceeded to run to the bathroom, giving Tim a good look at his naked body in a running motion.

Shaking his head, Tim looked skywards as he got out of bed and slipped on his boxers before going to the newly bought dresser that was filled with his and Gareth's clothes.

"Gangly little bugger." He chuckled, taking out a pair of tan trousers along with a red shirt and black belt.

…

Tim was pouring a cup of tea for him when he heard Gareth charging back into the bedroom to get dressed and he thought for a moment before looking down into the cup, narrowing his eyes slightly as he thought about Gareth intently.

Although he had been skeptically about Gareth's interest in rubbish like astrology and numerology; he couldn't help but be fascinated with the whole tea reading thing he did after they shared a pot together. In the end, Tim had caved in and allowed Gareth to teach him how to do it, and soon he was just as bad as Gareth with the habit of reading tea leaves.

When he was satisfied that the cup of tea would read for Gareth, he dumped out the water and looked at the tea leaves still inside.

After reading the warning, he softly began to count down from ten.

"Three…two…one."

"FUCK!"

The tea leaves had warned that Gareth would suffer a deep and personal pain and apparently the man had just caught himself in his zipper in his rush to get dressed quickly.

"Clumsy bastard!" he laughed, pouring a fresh cup before heading back to the bedroom.

"Stupid bloody zipper!" Gareth whimpered, tears coming to his eyes from the pain. He leaned back and shut his eyes as Tim's arms were wrapped around him and a soft gasp escaped his lips as Tim took a firm hold of the injured member.

"I can't be late…" he warned, despite the growing hardness of his member.

"I know." Tim laughed, keeping his hand on his cock as he nuzzled the side of his neck, morning stubble tickling him.

"I'll get fired…David's looking for any reason to do it, Tim!"

"You say that, but your cock is still as hard as a rock!"

Gareth's cheeks burned as his eyes fluttered closed and any other protests were cut off as Tim's hand kept moving and he soon released with a shudder.

"I'll pick you up early for lunch?" Tim offered; helping Gareth get fixed up, noting the stain on the carpet that would have to be cleaned up later. "You spent an extra two hours at work the other day…they owe you extra lunch time."

"We have to pick up me cousin." Gareth reminded him. "I'll show you how to get there when we go."

With a nod, Tim gave Gareth his cup of tea and held up his briefcase as he downed the lukewarm liquid and belched in his throat, his thin lips shut as he did so.

"Attractive." Tim laughed, exchanging the cup for the briefcase as Gareth blew out the gas from pursed lips.

"Just make sure you've shaved when you come over, yeah?"

"I'm not making any promises." He chuckled, rubbing the stubble with a thoughtful expression on his face. "I just might grow a beard!"

"To match those hairy monster legs of yours?" Gareth snorted as he headed for the door.

"At least I grow hair on my legs like a man! Your legs look like Dawn's after she shaves them!"

Gareth turned on his heel and was about to say something biting when Tim cut it off with a kiss. The angry words melted away as he kissed back and once their lips parted, he was left wondering why he had been angry in the first place.

"Have a nice day at work, love." Tim purred and Gareth felt his heart start to beat faster as he nodded a bit lamely.

"Love you."

Tim smiled and looked into the teacup once more, tilting his head in curiosity as the door shut in front of him.

"'Painful past revisited?'" he read allowed and he shook his head and shrugged as he set the cup into the sink before going to take a shower and shave.


	3. Chapter 3

When Tim walked into the office later to pick up Gareth, he softly snickered at the reaction his presence received from the rest of the employees.

Everyone started to laugh and Gareth looked up from his computer and groaned, turning right back around as he prayed that Tim's outfit would change when he turned around to look at him again.

"Oy, Gareth!" Tim called out and Gareth silently cursed as he turned around to face him.

Sometimes he wondered if Tim's whole life revolved around making him miserable. The man was wearing the most ridiculous outfit he had ever seen! And he had actually worn it out in public and looked proud of himself too!

A pair of shorts that were too short and tight for the man had been put together with a t-shirt that didn't even match! The shorts were a sickening lime green color, and the t-shirt was pink with orange dots all over the place!

Gareth also noted that his leg hair was especially wild at the moment, and he vaguely wondered if Tim had purposely done that to spite his own hairless legs.

What made the outfit worse however were the fashion shades resting over Tim's eyes put together with baby blue crocs on his feet.

"God…" Gareth whispered, closing his eyes to avoid looking at the sight any longer.

"You ready to go?" Tim asked as he smiled and gave Dawn a wave.

"Why are you doing this to me?"

"Doing what? Taking you out to lunch?"

Gareth glared at the innocent looking Tim but he soon gave in and shut his computer off before getting up and walking out the door, forcing Tim to chase after him.

"Do you remember how to get to the funeral home?" he asked as Tim caught up and walked beside him.

"Yeah?"

"Good, because I'm going to kill you for dressing like that!" he growled between gritted teeth. Tim threw his head back and laughed, wrapping an arm around his middle to try and pull him in for a kiss.

"I'm just trying to brighten up your day, love!"

"If my cousin wasn't blind all ready your outfit would certainly do the trick!" Gareth snapped, shoving him away as he got into the car, slamming the passenger side door shut.

Tim sighed and rested his sunglasses on his forehead as he got in and started the car.

"How long do we have?" he asked.

"Two hours." Gareth answered.

"That should be enough time."

"Plenty."

"…"

"Gareth?"

"What?"

"You do realize that we're not moving because you haven't told me how to get there right?"

Gareth pinched the bridge of his nose lightly with two fingers as he shut his eyes.

"They live two blocks down from the funeral home."

"Right." Tim drove off then, confused as to why his lover was so angry at him for dressing like this.

"Gareth, are you really angry at me for wearing this?"

"Yes!" Gareth snapped.

"Why?"

That seemed to deflate his anger and Gareth's shoulders slumped.

"You know how much I worry about my image!" he said. "I like to dress in a way that shows people that I'm a success in life! You come in dressed like a fucking clown and…" he ended it there, unable to finish.

"I'm sorry." He said instead as he looked away in shame. Tim waited until they were at a red light before he turned to Gareth and kissed him on the lips tenderly.

"I was only fooling with you. I've got a change of clothes in the back. Do you think your cousin would mind if I changed in the bathroom before we went?"

"You'll have to ask me aunt."

"Aunt?"

"Me Aunt Susan. The one who threatened to tear off your pecker?" he offered.

"Oh."

"Ferris lives with his mum. He's always lived with her."

Tim noted the sadness and guilt in Gareth's voice and he looked over at him with an arched eyebrow.

"Gareth?"

"Yeah?"

"He…He wasn't always blind was he?"

Gareth stared out the window in silence.

"Gar-bear?"

"It's my fault that he's blind!" he said suddenly. Tim blinked and held back his surprise as he waited for him to continue without needing to be prompted.

"I was six and he was eight when we first met." He continued suddenly. "Mum was good at hiding what kind of man me da' was at the time so Aunt Susan brought Ferris over and asked if he could stay for a week while she went on holiday."

Tim winced as an idea of what happened came into his head.

"He lost his eyesight on the fifth day…All because of me."


	4. Chapter 4

When the two boys had first met five days ago, Ferris had made Gareth into a friend rather quickly, despite Gareth's shy and timid nature.

Gareth had stayed hidden behind his mother when his cousin arrived, holding onto her legs tightly as he buried his face into her knees.

He was a nervous young boy, dark circles all ready forming under his eyes. He was also far too thin to be considered well nourished but he wore baggy clothes to try and hide this, along with the bruises his father left on his body.

His hair had been in a mushroom cut back then, as if foreshadowing the pudding bowl cut that he would someday wear. His golden hair was puffy and soft around the edges, and his mother would often laugh as his hair fell into his eyes.

Ferris had walked in beside his mother with a smile and at once he knew that he would like to be Gareth's friend. His own hair was long enough to put into a small ponytail and his body was the opposite of Gareth's; trim and fit with the right amount of body fat on it.

With a smile, Ferris had walked around his aunt and promptly hugged Gareth tightly, smiling as he ruffled his hair.

"Oy, cousin!"

And that had been that.

The boys played together constantly and Ferris had loads of fun with his younger cousin and his aunt.

But he hated his uncle passionately, because the man would come in smelling heavily of alcohol and start screaming and shouting at his wife and his son at once, acting as if Ferris wasn't even there as he raised a hand to the two of them.

At night while the boy's would get ready for bed, Ferris would grind his teeth and tell Gareth that he should tell the police about what his father was doing to him and his mother.

"He shouldn't be doing this to you, cousin!" he insisted on the fifth night, his eyes narrowed dangerously. "He's your da'!"

"I know…And that's why I can't report him." Gareth answered sadly.

"Why not?!"

"He's me da'…"

"Gareth!"

Gareth looked down at the ground sadly, kicking at an invisible pebble.

"If I tell on him…He'll be taken away from me." He said. "He's me da', and I don't want him to go away, Ferris!"

Ferris rolled his eyes and he shook his head as he just gave up and shrugged, rinsing his mouth out before crawling into his sleeping bag that rested on the floor beside Gareth's bed.

"I'm going to tell me mum when she comes to pick me up." He warned. "She'll know what to do."

Gareth whimpered but he said nothing else, crawling into bed before flopping his head down on the soft pillow.

…

Ferris was woken up a few hours later when the light to the bedroom was suddenly snapped open, and he opened his eyes and gasped softly when he saw his uncle Brock walk up to Gareth and shake the frail boy awake.

Gareth woke with a soft snort, and he whimpered as his father's fingers dug deeper into his arm.

"Da'…"

"Shut up and get up!" Brock hissed softly. "Do you want to wake your cousin up?"

Ferris quickly shut his eyes and pretended to be sleeping just as Brock turned to look down at him.

When he was satisfied that the boy was sleeping, he turned back to Gareth.

"Your uncle Lance has come over for a visit." He said with a smile, and he twisted Gareth's arm when the boy winced at the man's name.

"And you're going to use those fucking nimble fingers of yours on his cock!" he added darkly and he only let go when Gareth nodded, silent tears falling down narrow cheeks as he crawled out of bed.

Ferris grew stiff when he heard this, but he was silent, struggling to keep pretending that he was sleeping as they left the room.

Once they were gone however, he quickly got up and left the room, running for his aunt's bedroom.

Alina had been locked in her bedroom by her husband to stop her from getting to Gareth, and she pounded on the door uselessly, screaming for Brock to stop this madness.

"Aunt Alina?" Ferris asked softly.

"Ferris? Ferris, please try to help Gareth!" Alina pleaded, pressing up against the door.

Ferris nodded and he went looking for where his uncle and cousin had gone to at once.

He did not have far to look as he heard Gareth's soft sobs coming from the living room, and when he headed towards it, he found his cousin kneeling in front of a man, and being forced to use his hands in a way that no six year old should be forced to and he angrily charged at him, his hands raised into fists.

"Leave me cousin alone you fucker!" he shouted, and was blindsided as his uncle Brock suddenly struck him with a sharp backhand, sending him sprawling onto the ground.

Gareth stopped and he turned to Ferris at once, his eyes growing wide in panic.

"Ferris!"

"What are you doing stopping like that, lovely hands?" Lance demanded, grabbing Gareth by the hair and twisting it painfully, forcing his head back.

Ferris struggled to his feet, gritting his teeth as he glared up at his uncle.

"I'm going to tell the police!" he warned. "You can't hurt me cousin anymore!"

Brock answered this with a laugh, shaking his head before grabbing Ferris tightly by the throat.

"I'm a cop! My mates won't believe a word you say!" he explained, and he promptly punched Ferris in the ribs deeply, breaking something.

"Kick the little fucker's ass, Brock!" Lance laughed, glaring down at Gareth as the boy stopped once more, and he promptly slapped him hard enough to split his lower lip.

Gritting his teeth, Ferris suddenly kicked out, and made Brock flinch as his foot hit his knee.

"Buggering freak!" he spat at his uncle and that was the last thing he remembered about that night.

The rage inside of Brock Keenan boiled over, and without thinking it through, he suddenly swung the boy by his arm as hard as he could into the table, and as Gareth screamed, Ferris crumpled to the ground, blood dribbling from the back of his head.

He had been hit in the back of the head with the corner of the table.

…

"The doctors said that the force of the blow and where it was did something to his eyes to make him blind." Gareth finished sadly, his head still resting against the car window. "Me da' had made up some bullshit excuse as to what happened to him, and because he had the police force behind him, he got away with it."

"Jesus Christ…" Tim whispered softly, shaking his head a bit as he drove past the funeral home.

"And it's all my fault!"

Tim pulled the car over and he turned to look at Gareth, and he winced when he saw the tears flowing freely down his cheeks as he still refused to make eye contact with him.

"If I had been stronger…"

"Gareth, there was nothing you could do." Tim whispered, resting a hand on his arm. "Bad things happen sometimes…"

"That still doesn't make it right!"

"I know it doesn't, Gareth." Tim agreed and he undid his seatbelt before he then reached out and wrapped his arms around his shoulders, pulling him into a hug, running his fingers through Gareth's hair as his shoulders started to tremble.

"Me cousin is too good to me…He doesn't hate me for what I did to him…" he wept softly.

"You didn't do anything to him, Gareth. You were a small boy with a wicked father! You couldn't have done anything to help him! And besides…he still loves you. He's part of your family!"

Gareth's crying slowed down and he pulled back slightly, looking at Tim with hope in his eyes.

"Yeah?" he asked, sniffling badly.

"Yeah."

A smiling came to his thin lips and Gareth nodded as he rubbed at his eyes with the heels of his hands.

"We're almost there." He said finally, giving Tim a thankful smile as they headed out once more.


	5. Chapter 5

For some reason, Tim was oddly surprised when Gareth pointed out his aunt's house.

It was a small elegant thing, painted white with a path leading to the front steps in the style of crazy paving. The parking spot was currently empty and made it easier for Tim to pull up to the front of the house.

"Aunt Susan must be at work." Gareth noted.

"What does she do for a living anyway?" Tim asked.

"She's a nurse." He said. "She works with blind people mostly." He added with a weak smile. "A bit ironic really."

"Who did their crazy paving? It looks nice actually."

"Ferris did that himself." Gareth said with a smile.

"Really? How?" Tim asked, grabbing a bag of clothes from the back before getting out.

Gareth smiled as he followed him out of the car and he looked down at the crazy paving, his hands in his pockets.

"His friend Joey watched and made sure it was even and all for him." He said. "But Ferris insisted on doing all of the physical work himself. He says that it makes him feel less crippled when he works with his hands."

"He's got a job then?"

"He delivers potatoes to stores and such."

"He's a potato man?"

"Yeah."

Tim shrugged and rang the doorbell.

"It sounds better than being a gherkin man." He offered.

"He once got into a fight with a gherkin man actually." Gareth laughed.

"Who won?"

"He broke the gherkin man's nose."


	6. Chapter 6

Tim stared at Gareth, waiting for him to tell him that he was joking, but when he saw that Gareth was serious, he opened his mouth to ask how that was possible when Ferris suddenly opened the door, an unlit cigarette in one hand.

"Oy, cousin!" he greeted without either of them saying anything to help him identify them. "You ready to take us out to lunch then? You'll just have to wait a tick; I'm kicking the shite out of Joey in dominoes!"

"Dominoes?" Tim repeated.

Ferris nodded as he lit his cigarette and took in a deep drag.

"Come on in. It shouldn't be much longer." He offered, stepping aside as he blew the smoke out of his nose like a dragon, the smoke rolling into the air before vanishing.

"Does Aunt Susan know you smoke in the house?" Gareth asked with a small smile.

"What me mum don't know won't hurt me." Ferris said slyly. "Come on then, it's my turn in the game and I'm sure Joey is mucking around with the pieces."

Tim found himself stepping into a spotless living room; all of the furniture covered in plastic except for one couch which he suspected was used by Ferris and his friends. There was also a shelf on the far wall that was lined up with photographs and small ceramic figurines of horses and dogs.

He couldn't help but laugh at it all, and he shook his head for a moment before turning back to Ferris.

"Is it all right if I use your bathroom?" he asked. "I just need to change my clothes first."

"Sure. It's down the hall past the kitchen, mate." Ferris said as he headed for the kitchen himself, pointing out the door at the end of the hallway as he turned into the kitchen with Gareth beside him.

"Oy! Have you been fucking with the pieces again, Joey?" Ferris demanded once they were inside, reaching out to take a hold of the back of his chair, sliding it forward before sitting down again.

Joey put on an indignant face and he huffed, shaking his head.

"Of course not!" he said, crushing the empty can of beer that he currently held in his hand and tossing it into a small pile of similar cans that had started to form on the floor beside the table.

Ferris snorted softly and he promptly reached out and he began to feel each of the bones in play, counting the number of holes in each piece before he then frowned.

"You moved two pieces." He accused.

Joey raised his eyebrows in surprise and he sighed as he reached out and switched the pieces back to where they had been before.

"Blind bastard." He muttered, causing Ferris to throw his head back and laugh.

"So where are we going to eat anyway, cousin?" Ferris asked, feeling the indents on his own pieces as he thought about where to put them.

Gareth shrugged as he took a seat beside him.

"I'm not really sure. I've got to be back at work in two hours." He said.

"I know of a diner not too far from here." Joey offered. "One of the waitresses there has a crush on Ferris!" he added with a laugh.

"Oh god…" Ferris sighed, tilting his head back to have his dead eyes staring at the ceiling.

"Really?" Gareth laughed.

"Don't…" Ferris warned.

"She's got a nice pair of tits on her." Joey said.

"Joey!"

"Ferris, you never told me that." Gareth said with a laugh. "Have you tried anything with her yet?"

"The lad's too shy." Joey laughed. "And the poor girl's deaf and mute so…"

Ferris suddenly swept an arm over the table, scattering pieces all over the floor as he growled softly, narrowing dead eyes before slamming the one domino in his hand onto the table, making Gareth and Joey flinch.

"Did I miss something?"

Gareth looked over his shoulder and found Tim standing in the doorway dressed in a blue t-shirt and a pair of faded jeans.

He shrugged helplessly at him before turning back to Ferris.

"Are you all right, Ferris?" he asked softly, resting a hand on his arm.

Closing his eyes, Ferris took a deep breath before he then nodded and let his shoulders slump a bit.

"Yes." He said finally. "Can we go now and stop talking about her?"

"Sure, cousin. Whatever you say."


	7. Chapter 7

Tim had no idea what had happened while he was changing his clothes; but it was enough to suck out all of the earlier laughter and fun right out of them all.

He was driving to a diner, Joey beside him to help give directions to the place while Gareth sat in the back with his moody cousin.

The silence was growing uncomfortable for everyone and Tim shot Gareth a confused look through the rearview mirror; wondering what on Earth had happened.

He was answered with a small shrug and a shake of the head.

Suddenly, Ferris broke the silence.

"Did me cousin ever tell you about the time some perverts got their hands on him and how me and Joey had to come to his rescue?"

"Oh God…" Gareth groaned. "Don't…"

"Perverts?" Tim asked and Gareth put his head in his hands.

"You never told him?" Ferris laughed over to Gareth.

"Ferris…"

"So I'm hanging out with Joey at the pub when I suddenly get a call on me cell at one in the morning…"

"Ferris!"

"Just give it up, mate!" Joey laughed. "He's all ready started to tell it."

Gareth's shoulders slumped in defeat, and he folded his arms across his chest as his cousin told an amazed Tim the whole story.


	8. Chapter 8

He was wasted just after four beers and despite his earlier revulsion at the idea of a threesome with another man involved, (two girls would have been all right but there was no way he would do it with another man); Gareth was still comfortable talking to the couple. He learned that their names were Jack and Liz and that Jack worked with motorcycles; building custom ones for a fair chunk of change.

They seemed like nice enough people and so when he was offered a free lift back to his flat, he accepted it with a smile.

It wasn't until they were outside that Gareth realized he was in danger as the man pressed a knife against the small of his back.

"Don't say anything." 'Jack' hissed. "Just act normal and get in with your helmet on!"

Gareth made a sloppy attempt to fight; whirling around and trying to strike him with the heel of his hand, but he was forced to give up once the knife was pressed up against his stomach.

"Turn the fuck around before me husband here guts you like a bloody fish!" 'Liz' hissed.

Whimpering, Gareth did as he was told. He did not dare to call out for help, figuring that his throat would be slit and he would be dead before they could be stopped.

His only attempt was giving the camera man a pleading look as they roared past.

…

What Gareth did not know was that a week earlier; the couple had tried to get Ferris to have a threesome with them and instead the blind man and his friend had kicked the shit out of the husband, knowing his reputation for using force to get his way if someone turned them down.

Gareth's resemblance to his cousin had marked him as a target the moment he stepped into Chasers that day and as they dragged him into their flat, he burst into tears.

"Don't kill me! Me mum's in the hospital with cancer and I'm all she's got! I'm the only one who can take care of her!"

"Oh shut up!" 'Liz' snapped. "Just take your clothes off."

Gareth ran for it once his arms were released and because he was unable to get out of the flat, he just ran into the bedroom and shut the door, pressing his back up against it as he took out his cell phone; calling the one person who could help him.

"Oh my God…" he whimpered as they started to bang on the door. "Please, God!"

…

"Where do you reckon we should go now?"

Ferris and Joey were walking the streets of Slough aimlessly, trying to figure out where they should go now since most of the clubs were closed.

"We could take a trip out of Slough to that new strip club." He offered, stopping and frowning slightly as his cell phone started to vibrate and he took it out and flipped it open.

"Hello?"

"Help! FortheloveofGodhelpme!" Gareth screamed on the other line.

"Cousin?!"

"They're going to rape me!"

"Cousin, calm down. What the fuck are you talking about?"

But there was a sound of a loud crash and then a struggle before someone else answered him.

"Thought you were smart beating up Rocko did you?"

"Sandy?!"

"Well now we've got a new playmate! A relative of yours I think." She laughed.

"You bitch!" Ferries snarled. "Leave him alo…"

The phone was hung up suddenly and Ferris snarled as he flipped his phone closed.

"What is it, Ferris? Who was that?" Joey asked.

"Do you know where Rocko and Sandy live?"

"Rocko and Sandy? You mean those freaks who wanted to have you as part of their fetish?"

"Yes." Ferris nodded.

"Why do you…?"

"They've fucking got Gareth, Joey!"

"Shit…"

"Exactly!"

"I think one of my friends knows their address." Joey said, taking out his cell phone and starting to dial. "Give me a second."

"Hurry up, Joey!"

…

Moaning softly, Gareth lay sprawled out on the floor, his body aching from the beating he had just endured courtesy of Rocko while Stacy taunted Ferris on the phone.

"Rocko! Look what you did!" she scolded as she snapped the phone in half, walking over to Gareth and holding his head up by his chin, turning it this way and that to inspect the large bruise that was starting to form on his left cheek.

"You damaged him!" she pouted.

"Sorry, love. You know how much it annoys me when they run away like that!" he argued with a shrug.

"I know." She sighed; digging a nail suddenly into the wound and making Gareth flinch and yelp softly.

"Please…"

"Did I say you could talk?!"

Another slap struck him on his bruise and he let out a weak cry, unable to fight back as soon the two of them began taking off his clothes.

"Why are you doing this?! He whimpered, ending up in nothing but his socks and pirate boxers.

"Put your hands together like you're praying." Rocko said instead, promptly taking out a roll of duct tape.

"What..?"

"Do it!" Stacy snapped.

Flinching, he did so and his wrists were taped together tightly and were soon followed by his ankles.

"This is going to be fun." Stacy noted, rubbing her hands together.

Gareth pulled his knees up defensively and shook his head.

"Look, I don't know what's wrong with you two but…"

"Oh like you don't know!" she snapped angrily, resting her hands on her hips as she glared down at Gareth while her husband went to get the video camera in another room.

"I…I don't know." Gareth said simply, shrugging his narrow shoulders helplessly.

"You're cousin refused our offer of being part of our threesome!" Stacy explained. "And then he and his fat friend had the nerve to beat up my husband!"

_He probably deserved it. _Gareth thought vaguely. "But then why would you come after me?

"Because you look like him!" she pointed out, slowly taking off her own top. "So we figured you had to be related and we were right!"

"What would you have done if you were wrong?"

Stacy shrugged, smiling wickedly as she leaned forward. "Oh well."

_This is insane. I'm going to be raped by a woman._ Gareth thought helplessly as her hand hovered over his boxers.

A loud crashing sound mixed with shouting voices made her stop with a frown and Gareth let out a sigh of relief.

_Thank you, Jesus. _He thought, looking skyward as Stacy stormed out of the room.

He could hear a struggle going on in the other room and his heart raced when he heard Rocko screaming louder than Ferris or Joey.

_Jesus, please don't let those crazy bastards win!_ He prayed.

Soon the sound of fighting stopped and he held his breath as footsteps came towards him.

He finally breathed again when Joey stuck his head into the room, laughing at the sight of Gareth tied up with duct tape.

"Why the fuck did they leave the socks on?!"

Narrowing his eyes in annoyance, Gareth huffed and just looked away as Ferris came in next, walking over and kneeling beside him as he rested a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you all right, cousin?" he asked, concern making his voice soft despite his roughed up appearance and split bottom lip.

"Just get me untied and out of here." Gareth said. Laughing softly, Ferris nodded and ruffled Gareth's hair.

"You always get in the worst messes, cousin!"

"Yeah well…this one is your fault!" Gareth countered with a soft snort.

…

"And that's why you should never leave Gareth alone." Ferris finished with a shrug. "He'll get kidnapped and almost raped by freaks!"

"Why do you always like telling that story?" Gareth groaned, massaging his temples with the tips of his fingers slowly.

"Because it's fucking hilarious!" Joey countered with a laugh as Tim pulled into the diner's parking lot.

"Shall we get something to eat then?" Tim asked, unable to think of anything else to say.


End file.
